Alonso Has the Formula for Victory

Fernando Alonso led from the start in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday in Budapest and became the youngest winner of a Formula One race.

“I’m 22 years old and I have my first win in the pocket. I hope I have a long career and a lot more,” Alonso said. “The next step will be fighting for the championship and I hope as soon as possible.”

Alonso, driving for Renault, led the youngest podium celebration in Formula One history by leading 23-year-old Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren Mercedes and 27-year-old Juan Pablo Montoya of Williams-BMW across the finish line.

Defending Formula One champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari finished eighth, and his lead in the standings was cut to one point over Montoya and two points over Raikkonen, with three races left this season.

Alonso, who turned 22 last month, pulled away from the start and was never challenged by Raikkonen during the 70 laps of the 2.72-mile Hungaroring circuit.

The previous youngest winner for a Grand Prix race was Bruce McLaren, who won the first U.S. Grand Prix at Sebring, Fla., in 1959. He was 22 years 104 days old.

Troy Ruttman was a few months younger when he won the Indianapolis 500 in 1952 when it was part of the circuit, but McLaren was considered the youngest Grand Prix winner.

Ralf Schumacher of Williams-BMW finished fourth. McLaren’s David Coulthard and Jaguar’s Mark Webber were fifth and sixth.

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Helio Castroneves moved into the lead in the Indy Racing League point standings and gave Toyota its first series championship with a victory in the Firestone Indy 225 at Nazareth, Pa.

Castroneves held off Sam Hornish Jr. by 0.169 of a second as both stretched fuel over the last 102 of 225 laps. Late cautions, crashes and mechanical failures by the other contenders helped them both.

Castroneves raced away in his Dallara-Toyota when the race went green for the final time with 13 laps to go. A lapped car held up Hornish briefly, but he closed the gap in his Dallara-Chevrolet over the final five laps.

Hornish, the two-time defending series champion, is fifth in the standings. He’s 71 points behind Castroneves, who leads teammate Gil de Ferran by 25, Tony Kanaan by 32 and Scott Dixon by 42.

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Michel Jourdain couldn’t keep up with Alex Tagliani, so he waited him out and won the Championship Auto Racing Teams Montreal Molson Indy.

Tagliani, the pole winner, dominated most of the race, leading 52 of the 75 laps in his Ford-Cosworth/Lola. His only problem was stopping two laps earlier than the other leaders on the first two of his three pit stops, and that proved costly.

Tagliani held a lead of just over 1.5 seconds -- about 10 car-lengths -- on Jourdain before making his final stop on the 58th lap. Jourdain and the rest of the leaders pitted two laps later, with Jourdain’s Team Rahal crew giving him just enough fuel to drive his Ford-Cosworth/Lola to the victory.

Oriol Servia finished second in a Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 2.77 seconds -- about 20 car-lengths -- behind. Patrick Carpentier was third in a Ford-Cosworth/Lola. Tagliani finished fourth.

Tennis

Top-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan defeated James Blake, 6-2, 6-4, to win the TD Waterhouse Cup at Commack, N.Y., for the second year in a row. It also was his first win over Blake after losing the previous three matches against him.

Srichaphan won 36 of 56 points on his serve; Blake was only 29 for 62. He is the fifth repeat winner of the event that annually precedes the U.S. Open.

Srichaphan, who won the first of his four titles at this event a year ago, earned $52,000 to boost his 2003 winnings to $510,257.

Blake, a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team, committed 17 unforced errors and had his serve broken twice in the first set. He won $30,600 to raise his earnings for the year to $346,609.

Miscellany

The top-ranked USC women’s volleyball team won the 2003 NACWAA State Farm tournament by defeating second-ranked Hawaii, 30-22, 30-26, 31-29, Saturday night in Honolulu.

Senior April Ross was named tournament most valuable player after averaging 3.3 kills, 4.2 digs and 4.0 points to help the Trojans win both of their matches in the two-day event.

Forward Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks injured his ankle while playing in a game for Germany’s national team in Braunschweig, Germany.

The Mavericks said Nowitzki sustained a mild left ankle sprain. An MRI exam showed no bone or ligament damage.

Melton said Nowitzki rolled his ankle when he stepped on another player’s foot.

Nowitzki was fouled by Florent Pietrus in the 13th minute of Germany’s 76-68 loss to France in a preliminary game for next month’s European Championships.